What percentage of bird strikes involve the windshield?

• A. 11%
• B. 9%
• C. 7%
• D. 4%

Answer: (C)

The main idea is how bird strikes distribute across aircraft surfaces. Windshields are strong and specifically designed to resist impacts, but they are a relatively small target compared with surfaces like the nose and engines where birds are more likely to come into contact. Data from incident records show that only a small fraction of bird strikes involve the windshield—about seven percent. This reflects both the smaller area of the windshield and its resilience, plus the fact that birds are more often ingested by engines or strike the fuselage than the cockpit glass. So seven percent is the typical figure you’ll see, with higher numbers like eleven or nine percent implying more windshield hits, and four percent implying fewer hits than what is commonly observed.